Online resource packed with regulatory news and expert guidance, tips & tools pertinent to professionals across the post-acute care continuum.
CMS released the first monthly update of data showing the impact on COVID-19 on Medicare beneficiaries. For the first time, American Indian/Alaskan Native Medicare beneficiaries have been included in the data. The data shows that American Indian/Alaskan Native beneficiaries have the second highest rate of COVID-19 related hospitalizations among racial/ethnic groups after Black beneficiaries. Other […]
Expert Maureen McCarthy, president of Celtic Consulting, LLC, and CEO and founder of Care Transitions, LLP, a care coordination service provider, joins us to talk about billing telehealth in SNFs amid COVID, and the future of telehealth in SNFs. Subscribe on SoundCloud, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.
A COVID-19 outbreak took the lives of 12 residents, and infected 92 residents and 38 staff members at Manor Care Health Services-Tice Valley, a nursing home in Walnut Creek, CA. Many infected individuals were asymptomatic, and 53 have since recovered. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the center has a record of health violations.
A group of senators has requested demographic data on nursing home COVID-19 infections and deaths in nursing homes amid concerns that the disease disproportionately affects communities with higher populations of persons of color. The democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Patty Murray of Washington penned a […]
Accelerated and advance payments (AAP) could be retrieved in the next few weeks for qualified Medicare providers during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). CMS has released a fact sheet titled “Expansion of the accelerated and advance payments program for providers and suppliers during COVID-19 emergency.” The AAP has been expanded to a broader group […]
The lowest average margin for freestanding nursing homes in recent years was recorded in 2018, according to a new report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). The total average margin dropped to -0.3% in 2018, which is the first negative overall margin since 1999. Nursing home margins have been on a year-to-year decline, although […]
A COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) tip sheet is available on CMS’ website. The tip sheet identifies two reporting requirements for The Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). They are: Hospice Item Set (HIS) Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems ( CAHPS®) Hospice Survey The tip sheet also covers HQRP exemption and extension policies, what […]
Medicare relief funds have been an integral part in keeping some SNFs afloat since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but some providers have yet to see any financial relief. Providers that took over SNFs in early 2020, before the pandemic, were not included in the previous federal aid packages, as the relief funds were […]
Coders can get a head start on getting to know the changes to coding rules for diagnosis coding as the FY2021 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines on Coding and Reporting were issued July 8 – weeks ahead of the typical early August release date. The coding guidelines, which take effect Oct. 1, include additional instructions on reporting […]
The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) recently analyzed self-reported nursing home data and found that COVID-19 related infections and deaths in nursing homes are related to infected staff members. The data found that approximately one in four nursing home staff members were infected with COVID-19 between March and early June. The study also […]